CaplanQuebec
A town in Quebec, home to 1,961 people. It lies in Bonaventure.
Is Caplan a good place to live?
Caplan’s best grade is for safety (B+). Few people walk, cycle or take the bus to work (D). Incomes are on the low side (C). It lags on health as well (C).
An overall grade comes at 2,500 residents for Canadian towns; Caplan has its subject grades alone.
This town's rent is the 2021 census rent scaled to 2025 by its province's ratio of surveyed to census rents: no rental survey covers it, so its Cost Grade is less sure. Safety is the Sûreté du Québec unit's figure for the whole MRC. No School Grade: this province doesn't publish comparable results school by school. Health is graded on the health region's survey figures and life expectancy, with the distance to hospital giving the town its own spread.
How Caplan grades
Each subject compares Caplan with Canadian towns of 2,500 or more, ordered by how far it is from the middle. Towns in other countries are graded separately.
An overall grade comes at 2,500 residents for Canadian towns; Caplan has its subject grades alone.
How TownRatings grades Canadian towns →
What makes Caplan stand out
The 3 things Caplan does most differently from other towns.
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Caplan.
Summers stay cool in Caplan: July afternoons reach 22.7°C, below Quebec’s towns and Canadian towns
The most precipitation falls in October: 117 mm in a normal year. A normal winter brings 337 cm of snow, above both Quebec’s towns (217 cm) and Canadian towns (141 cm). Snow peaks in January: 71 cm in a normal year.
Average high by season · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Normals, 1991–2020 | Caplan | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snowfall a year | 337 cm | 217 cm | 141 cm |
| July afternoon high | 22.7°C | 26.5°C | 25.5°C |
| Precipitation a year | 1,095 mm | 1,041 mm | 883 mm |
| Days with frost a year | 175 | 161 | 159 |
Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 (New Carlisle)
Radon is Caplan’s main hazard: 25% of tested homes in its area top Health Canada’s guideline
Shaking is about as much of a worry in Caplan as in most places, at $0.030 a year per $1,000 of building value ($0.030 typical). No flood study for Caplan is on the national inventory.
Radon tests above the guideline · share of tested homes, 200 Bq/m³
| Hazards | Caplan | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radon tests above the guideline | 25% | 8.2% | 6.6% |
| Earthquake loss per $1,000 of buildings a year | $0.030 | $0.14 | $0.030 |
NRCan seismic risk model and burned areas, Health Canada radon survey, the Flood Hazard Map Inventory · Radon tests: one figure for all of the Gaspesie - Iles-de-la-Madeleine health region
For safety, Caplan gets a B+
Source area for Crime Severity Index, Violent Crime Severity Index, violent crime and property crime per 1,000: Avignon/Bonaventure MRC
Across the area its police cover, the Crime Severity Index averaged 48 over 2023–25, below Quebec’s towns (56) and Canadian towns (67) alike. Property crime in the area its police cover: 11.6 per 1,000 people a year.
Year by year · Crime Severity Index for each year
| 2023–2025 | Caplan | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crime per 1,000 | 11.6 | 16.6 | 31.2 |
| Crime Severity Index | 48 | 56 | 67 |
| Violent Crime Severity Index | 75 | 88 | 86 |
Statistics Canada, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, 2023–2025 average
Commuters in Caplan have a short way to work, 20 min on average, less than in Quebec’s towns and Canadian towns
How working residents got to work · census 2021
| Census 2021 | Caplan | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip | 20 min | 27 min | 26 min |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021 (labour and commuting) · Counted in May 2021, under pandemic rules: fewer commutes and more people between jobs than in a normal year.
More smokers around Caplan: 18% of adults, where the typical Canadian town has 12%
Life expectancy at birth in the region is 79.9 years, below both Quebec’s towns (82.5) and Canadian towns (81.5). The survey puts the region’s share in very good or excellent health at 56%; Quebec as a whole is at 57%. Closer to home, a hospital is 24 km from the average resident of Caplan, further than the usual 3.7 km. For health survey and life expectancy, the only official count covers all of the Région de la Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Caplan included.
Very good or excellent health · adults, age-standardised
| Health | Caplan | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smokers | 18% | 12% | 12% |
| Life expectancy at birth | 79.9 | 82.5 | 81.5 |
| Chronic conditions (average share) | 18% | 15% | 17% |
| Very good or excellent health | 56% | 56% | 52% |
Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2023/2024 and life expectancy 2022/2024; Open Database of Healthcare Facilities
Fewer households are stretched by shelter costs in Caplan: 9% spend 30%+ of income, against 18% in the typical Canadian town
A year’s rent came to 16% of the median household income, lower than both Quebec’s towns (18%) and Canadian towns (20%). The owner-occupied share of households is 71%.
What homes were worth · The median owner’s estimate at the 2021 census
| Census 2021 | Caplan | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households spending 30%+ on shelter | 9% | 13% | 18% |
| Rent as a share of income | 16% | 18% | 20% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; CMHC Rental Market Survey via Statistics Canada · Values come from owners at the 2021 census and incomes from 2020, so they predate the later rise in rates.
28% of Caplan’s residents speak English and French (Quebec’s towns: 44%; Canadian towns: 7.5%)
Immigrants make up 0.5% of residents, lower than both Quebec’s towns (2.6%) and Canadian towns (6.4%). First Nations, Métis and Inuit people make up 2.7% of residents, higher than Quebec’s towns (1.5%) and near Canadian towns (2.8%).
Ages · Share of residents in each age group, Census 2021
Schooling · Highest qualification, residents 15 and over
Women and men · all residents
Women make up 51.7% of Caplan
Women numbered 1,015 and men 950 in 2021, next to a 50.9% share of women for Canada.
| Caplan | Quebec | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 17% | 16% |
| 15 to 64 | 56% | 62% | 64% |
| 65+ | 32% | 20% | 19% |
| No certificate, diploma or degree | 23% | 19% | 16% |
| Postsecondary qualification | 56% | 59% | 56% |
Statistics Canada, Census 2021; Quebec and Canada: medians of towns of 2,500+
What November brings in Caplan: −2°C at night, 4°C by day
Snowfall in a normal November: 22 cm. The month after, December, normally sees −2°C afternoons and −9°C nights. In November, the normal is 101 mm of rain and snow. The year peaks in July (23°C) and bottoms out in January (−14°C).
Normal highs, the months ahead · ECCC normals, 1991–2020
| Season | High | Low | Rain and snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter | −4°C | −12°C | 261 mm |
| Spring | 7°C | −3°C | 254 mm |
| Summer | 21°C | 11°C | 273 mm |
| Autumn | 11°C | 3°C | 307 mm |
ECCC normals, 1991–2020 (New Carlisle); the forecast is on the Weather page
Lise Castilloux heads the council of Caplan as mayor
Alexis Deschênes (Bloc Québécois) is the MP for Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, the riding (a federal electoral district, which elects one MP) that takes in Caplan.
Wikidata, MAMH, MMAH, Statistics Canada
Caplan has one public library, Bibliothèque Jeanne-Ferlatte (Caplan)
It sits 1.4 km from the centre of Caplan.
Provincial library statistics, OpenStreetMap, the CRA and Statistics Canada
Caplan touches Robichaud 19-09-03 Water Fowl Gathering Area
9.6 km out lies the largest, Pointe de Paspébiac, Bonaventure Water Fowl Gathering Area, at 2,005 ha. The closest provincial park is Miguasha National Park (Québec), 42 km from the edge of town. No national park lies within 100 km. Within 5 km are 3 beaches; Plage de la rivière is the nearest.
Protected land · of the land within 10 km
| Outdoors | Caplan | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protected land within 10 km | 2.5% | 4.9% | 2.3% |
| Public protected areas within 10 km | 10 | 10 | 4 |
Canadian Protected and Conserved Areas Database (CPCAD), OpenStreetMap routes and beaches
No high school in or near Caplan: the closest is 14 km off
| School | Level | Students | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| École aux Mille-RessourcesIn CaplanElementary | Elementary | – | French public |
| Schools within 3 km | Caplan | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nearest secondary school | 14 km | 1.2 km | 1.2 km |
Provincial school lists and results, 2025-26 · Schools grade in Quebec: none (the ministry publishes its success rates by school service centre, not school by school).
1 historic place on the heritage registers in Caplan
Homes from before 1961 make up 32% of the stock, above both Quebec’s towns (21%) and Canadian towns (18%).
Historic places by designation · inside the town
Among them
| Heritage | Caplan | Quebec | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1961 | 32% | 21% | 18% |
Canadian Register of Historic Places, Directory of Federal Heritage Designations, Québec’s Répertoire du patrimoine culturel, Wikidata; Census 2021 homes by period
Everything we know about Caplan
Famous people from around Caplan
One notable person was born in Caplan; with them, the best known born in the towns around it.
Photo credits
François Bourque: Christian Jansky ( Tschaensky ), CC BY-SA 2.5 · Bona Arsenault: Arthur Roy, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Françoise Bujold: Bombyx (Michaël La Chance), Public domain
About Caplan
Town in Quebec
TownRatings follows Statistics Canada’s map: Caplan is one municipality in Quebec, figures and all.
Statistics Canada: population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155), Census of Population 2021, 2021 census boundaries.
- Population
- 1,961 (people, 2025 estimate)
- Province or territory
- Quebec
- Census division
- Bonaventure
- Census subdivision
- 2405060
Caplan’s neighbours
The nearest places of 1,000 or more. Statistics Canada
| Town | People | km | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caplan | 1,961 | — | — | B | B+ | C |
| Saint-Siméon | 1,254 | 8.1 | — | A− | B+ | C |
| New Richmond | 3,947 | 15 | B+ | A− | B+ | C+ |
| Bonaventure | 2,719 | 16 | B | B+ | B+ | C |
People: Statistics Canada, Census 2021. Distances: centre to centre.
Questions about Caplan
Do people in Caplan speak French?
French is the common language here.
Who are the people of Caplan?
0% of residents belong to a visible minority, against 15% for the median of Canadian towns; 3% have an Indigenous identity and 1% are immigrants.
Is Caplan a young town or an old one?
At 56.4, its median age compares with 45.2 across Canadian towns. Children make up 12% of the population and seniors 32%.
What kind of homes are in Caplan?
Mostly 73% single-detached houses (the median of Canadian towns: 64%), with 0% of homes in buildings of five or more storeys. Households hold 2 people on average, and 34% have just one.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021 · population estimates 2025 (17-10-0155) and 2021 census boundaries · Uniform Crime Reporting Survey 2023–25 (35-10-0026, 35-10-0183 to 35-10-0190) · CMHC rents as published by Statistics Canada (34-10-0133) · grades by TownRatings. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).